Oracle, a US technology company, has opened its new office at the Ghana’s Airport City, a move aimed expanding the company’s cloud portfolio countrywide and providing sales and consulting services to the sub-region.
Company officials said their primary objective for putting up the regional facility was to train Ghanaian staff in technology innovation to empower them to apply Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as the main driver of Ghana’s economic transformation.
Oracle engineers hardware and software to work together in the cloud and in data centres.
Mr Cherian Varghese, Oracle’s Cluster Leader for sub-Saharan Africa, said the new facility signified the growth of the company’s business in Ghana, and would it continue to invest in the people’s development to best serve customers.
“Oracle Ghana understands the importance of personal engagement with its customers and partners, and the new office affords the company with a great opportunity to strengthen those relationships even further,” he said.
“Through our vibrant local partner ecosystem and dedicated team of highly skilled and experienced employees, based here in Accra and throughout the greater West African Region, we provide customers with high-value products and services, and work to build lasting relationships through day-to-day engagements.”
The Country Manager of Oracle Ghana, Mr Joseph Asumang, said as a top global technology company, Oracle was committed to innovation, leadership, and excellence, and had, therefore, invested more than $39 billion in research and development, since 2004.
“Our technology is built on open industry standards, and one way that Oracle’s engineers drive innovation is by participating in more than a hundred standards – setting organisations,” he said.
He said the Ghana office demonstrated Oracle’s commitment to doing business in the country and supporting its customers and partners in West Africa.
“Our approach in Ghana aligns with Oracle’s global strategy; we are committed to helping organisations transition to and embrace the cloud; enabling them to transform their businesses with oracle solutions,” he said.
“From the data centre to the cloud, oracle helps eliminate the complexity that can stifle business innovation.”
He said their customers were using information technology as a powerful tool, and they were saving money, while delivering services that were not possible before their partnerships.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, said Oracle had been a key partner in the use and application of ICT in Government institutions.
“The opening of this office complex by Oracle Ghana is a further proof to the world that Ghana is opened for business,” he said.
The company introduced an Oracle Academy that has trained more than 45 educators from nine universities in database design and programming, and java programming.
Officials said the Academy had also trained school children between the ages of eight and 14 years on Alice, a tool designed to give young people their first exposure to programming.
The Academy hosted an ICT career day for 500 students from five universities in Ghana to introduce opportunities in the IT industry, which included a developer’s challenge for the participants with judges from the Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence.
It also provided five knowledge transfer sessions and sharing of expertise through face to face and online training sessions on java and oracle technologies to teach entrepreneurs linked to Ghana’s innovation hubs – Mobile Web Ghana and iSpace, reaching more than 32 developers.